Fisher-Price Think & Learn Code-a-pillar

Meet the Think & Learn Code-a-pillar, a (now discontinued) STEM toy for young kids from Fisher-Price released around 2016.

You essentially build a programmable robotic caterpillar using pieces that have different symbols on them representing one action (turn left 90 degrees, turn right 90 degrees, go straight forward, play music). The set also comes with a Start (green) and Finish (red) round plate. Those plates are only plastic round pieces with nothing else special about them that would interact with the main unit.. only used by the child as a start and finish goal to set on the floor and aim for when coding.

The set comes with several pieces, but there were three expansion packs out there:

The Basic pack are more of the pieces already included (straight, left, right).
The Master Moves pack adds more functions (this pack is hard-to-find).
The Silly Sounds & Lights pack adds more sounds.
There is also a separate 360 degree turn piece available as a standalone offering.

Here is a picture of the hard-to-find Master Moves expansion pack (this one took a while for me to find) that has a repeat knob and a 180 degree left turn (saves you from connecting a few left turn pieces just to do a 180). Not sure how useful the 45-degree right turn is; I don't recall this piece being used extensively.

With the included pieces, the 360 degree piece and both Master Moves and Sounds expansion packs, I had more pieces than the Code-a-pillar's memory could handle. The limit is 15 pieces, but I believe that the repeat function can help stay within the limit.. just a shame that the repeat button is part of a rare expansion pack... if I had two or more repeat pieces I would've tested to see if more than one is allowed. All it does is repeat the block before it as many times as you select on the knob, so it may be OK to use more than one.

PROS:

Kids are quite entertained watching it go and play music.
Easy to connect and disconnect the pieces.
The Code-a-pillar will stop and notify you if it hits an obstacle.
Fisher-Price provided a great Teacher's Guide for classroom use.
Inexpensive intro to really hands-on (litterally) coding for young kids... until the thing breaks. More on this below.
With all the cons mentioned below, looking at the bright side, someone can learn some electronics/soldering skills fixing all the flaws of this older model.

CONS:

Outside of a classroom setting, you may have to coax some kids more than others into learning the coding part. Some kids only dance around because the Code-a-pillar plays a song (I recall at least 2 songs it chooses from but there could be an additional one I forget) when it moves. To be fair, one of the songs is quite catchy and makes me want to learn the Running Man dance move to go with it.
Customers report that the toy can be loud. There is no volume knob. There is a hack that requires soldering a 50 ohm or 100 ohm resistor in series with the speaker. Someone really good with electronics may also put a potentiometer in there as a adjustable volume knob through a hole in the case.
The toy does not work well on carpeted surfaces.
Some customers report the toy lasts a few months, but the cause behind it can be remedied somewhat permanently if you are good with soldering. Another customer reported the toy lasting 4 years without issue despite rough play. Your mileage may vary.
Someone mentioned an issue with some units eventually having an issue with a sensor that detects if the Code-a-pillar is upside down and tells you which two wires to shunt to disable the sensor. I was not aware there was such a sensor. Perhaps they meant the obstacle detection mechanism?

My nephews were getting older, so I donated the toy to another set of nephews. A few months after that, they reported that the toy stopped working. Thankfully, someone found the cause and fix for this but it involves soldering.

A New Model

In 2019, Fisher-Price released a newer model called the Think & Learn Code-a-pillar Twist.

This model resolves the connection issue by making the components permanently connected together, but each component has a twist knob from which you can select each component's actions.
The manufacturer claims about 1,000 possible coding combinations.
No need to look for expansion packs.
Two power-on options now; a "power ON with low volume" and a "power ON with high volume" (so that's sort of resolved, but I guess a dedicated volume knob would've been cutting into their profits).
It still doesn't work well on carpet. The instruction manual recommends use on hard surfaces.

The End of Code-a-pillar

There is also another reason for me donating the Code-a-pillar to someone else: There is (was) a FREE Code-a-pillar app released by Fisher-Price in 2016 for Android or iOS where you guide a virtual Code-a-pillar through obstacles using new actions such as eating, swimming, digging, and climbing. Going left, right, and dancing to music are still there, of course. The app offers additional education opportunities related to learning numbers at the end of each series of (easy) coding puzzles.

Sadly, the Think & Learn Code-a-pillar Twist has also been discontinued in 2021.

Even worse, the free app was also discontinued from the Apple and Google stores. For security reasons, I cannot recommend downloading an APK for Android from a 3rd-party (do so at your own risk). Look at the Additional Links below for a video archive of most of the app (player did not check out the additional mazes unlocked after completing the main game).